The Tolden Anomaly
by David Scholes
Summary: The Tolden super power empire receive unexpected help from the Silver Surfer


**The distant future**

**Somewhere in the Void between two great galaxies**

The Starship lay dead in normal space, plucked from hyperspace as if by a giant hand. It had happened without any apparent lapse of time.

When checks revealed its crew was uninjured, and its power source and machineries undamaged the great ship prepared to get underway again. It began to gather speed in preparation for the jump into hyperspace.

Well before commencing the jump it was inexplicably teleported a distance roughly corresponding to the diameter of a star system.

Its occupants had no sense of being teleported or otherwise interfered with but somehow while still traveling at well below light speed they were instantly moved six thousand million miles. The star ship came to a halt – and maneuvered around seeking to return to the coordinates where it had been teleported from. Again without any sense or evidence of being interfered with, other than it's coordinates in space, the star ship was instantly moved approximately 6,000 million kilometers whence it had come.

Investigating the phenomenon the star ship fired its energy weapons at modest levels into a volume of space that lay directly in its projected path. The streams of energy were themselves teleported, just as the ship had been before it. Again across a distance of the order of 6,000 million kilometers.

For long moments the star ship took no action. The captain could not physically move his starship into a volume of space roughly ovoid in shape and capable of containing an entire star system. Light energy appeared to be entering and leaving this volume of space but no other forms of energy available to the starship could do so. The volume of space appeared to be devoid of any bodies of matter more significant than small meteorites.

Then the starship captain came to a decision. Maneuvering his great vessel at sub light speed well around and away from the projected volume of the anomaly. Before building up to light speed and making the jump in to hyperspace to put his ship back on course

The captain had decided that whatever he had encountered here, whatever the true nature of the anomaly that confronted him; it was not worth the risk of further investigation. Even in the short time frame that they had encountered the anomaly he and his crew had sensed something. Something that had chilled them to the marrow of their alien bones.

Some things were just best let alone. His course had been well off any of the normal hyperspace lanes. Still, dutifully, he would report the anomaly. Others could investigate it, if they chose to.

As the starship finally left, darkness, darker than the void, uncaringly watched its departure. The darkness continued to watch the volume of space, the teleportation anomaly, for signs of activity. As a cat might watch for a mouse to emerge from its hiding place. All the while analyzing the anomaly, looking for a weakness, knowing that a resolution was only a question of time and the darkness had that in abundance.

Or so it thought until it left, unexpectedly, reluctantly and abruptly. The silver form of the Universe's most powerful cosmic policeman had traced the darkness here, to the teleportation anomaly. Yet that which had been so instrumental in the destruction of so many would not confront him. It was not the first time it had ran from him. It would not be the last.

The Silver Surfer and the Dark Fate would meet and the space time dimensional reality coordinates of that meeting would be determined by the darkness. It would only ever meet him on its own terms.

For a time the great Silver Surfer watched over the nothingness in the void. It angered him that such a great race as the Tolden, had to secrete themselves in this way. Though he admired their ingenuity. This was not some pocket dimension or even an alternate reality. They had genuinely found a way to warp but not break reality. To still be in the same Universe but concealed from all, even the great powers. Yet in the end the darkness had found them and so had he.

The cosmic policeman, had not often interfered in the affairs of our Universe. Even less so in the affairs of the other dimensions that made up the Multiverse. When he did interfere it had been only with the noblest of purposes. The Silver Surfer recognized that now was another such time.

At that moment a voice called to him, seemingly coming from within the Tolden Anomaly. An unusual form of communication that was a mixture of telepathy, sound waves generated even in the vacuum of space, and a gentle reaching for the soul. "The Tolden thank you mighty one, Will you join us?"

Even before the Silver Surfer could respond, the communication repeated and a silver colored, humanoid woman form, hologram appeared, greeting him on the edge of the anomaly. The Surfer accepted her offer. It was time for him to meet the elders of this race and time for the Tolden to re-emerge in the Universe. Time for this great race to hide no longer. To once again traverse the stars with pride. He would assist them in this process. If necessary he would use all of the power that the great Galactus had long ago passed on to him.

The silver woman form, a smile on her face, as if she had somehow read his mind, reached out to him, and with her hand in his, the Silver Surfer saw that she was no longer merely a hologram. She moved closer to him as they descended to the nearest of the magnificent Tolden worlds within the anomaly.

End

Garth


End file.
